Box Top programs give funding to schools that the public school system desperately needs due to budget cuts. However, many of these Box Top cutouts appear on junk food. So is unhealthy eating justified if it helps our kids get a better education?
“Critics don’t object to schools getting much-needed funds. But they do protest the nutritional quality of the foods in rewards programs and schools’ role in promoting them, which potentially undermines nutrition education and could boost kids’ lifelong taste for unhealthy foods.”
Choosing Healthy Products Remains Up To Parents
While the companies say they are marketing toward the parents, many schools make it a contest for the kids. Getting kids involved means that they’re involved in the shopping too. They look for Box Top products and assume the food is therefore good for them. Many of these programs also have their cutouts on healthy products, but at the end of the day, healthier items need to be chosen. It’s up to parents to steer their kids away from the junk food and into a healthy diet.
To learn more about the problems concerning Box Top programs refer to A popular school fundraiser is just ‘junk-food marketing to kids,’ experts say.